How to Not Be a Jerk
by lifethatyouhate
Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

"What's she doing out there?"

"I don't know, she's just…standing outside the door."

"She's holding something!"

"It's an orange!" Maya realized, gasping.

Kathy turned to Chase with a smirk on her face. "'Who, Angela? You guys are idiots, there's no way in hell she likes me,'" she told him in a distorted imitation of his voice.

"I don't talk like that!" Chase snapped.

"Aw…she's running away…" Maya said from her spot at the window.

"Aw, damn," Kathy sighed. "That makes twice this week. Poor girl. Chase, you scare her so much she's too afraid to woo you!"

The orange haired waiter turned with annoyance to the blonde. "She is not trying to 'woo' me, and even if she was, I don't care…and don't say that, anyways, that sounds so dumb…"

"Woo, woo, woo, woo!" Kathy and Maya chanted.

Angela entered, looked at them with wide eyes, and then backed out. The girls hurried to the window, watching her run back towards her farm.

"Now look what you two idiots did," Chase mumbled, rolling his eyes. He felt a pang of empathy towards the girl who had entered only to find she didn't belong. _Then again, who'd want to belong with _them_? They're insane._

"Wait! She bumped into somebody!" Maya noted in awe. "And she…aw…she hit Gill in the face with the orange. Now she can't give it to Chase."

"Wow, that was one weak orange. It exploded all over him. I've never seen Gill not have perfectly clean clothes. And he hasn't hit her or anything!" Kathy told her friend in astonishment. "Hey, him and Angela are walking back this way!"

Chase glanced at the window himself, watching as the two passed by. Gill was staring down at his shirt while Angela rapidly apologized. Gill shook his head and she fell silent, and that was the last they saw.

"Well, there she goes," Maya sighed. "Our only form of entertainment. Now she's going to be wooing Gill."

"She's not just going to switch guys like that," Chase protested.

Maya and Kathy exchanged a look, smirking.

* * *

"Chase, you want to come see what Angela is doing today?" Maya asked the boy excitedly.

The waiter turned to her with narrowed eyes. "Why are you two so fascinated with her? She'd be pretty creeped out if she knew that you were constantly spying on her, you kn-,"

Kathy grabbed onto the back of his apron and pulled him away. "Oh, stop your whining, orangetop," she said when he began to protest. "Just come watch the farmer with us for once."

"I don't want- what's she holding?" Chase asked, coming to a stop before the window.

Maya and Kathy grinned at each other.

"Is that…a tomato?" the boy asked, sounding incredulous. "A _tomato_?"

"Yes, Chase. It is summer…she's growing crops on her farm…a tomato is a summer fruit…"

"No, it's a vegetable."

"Maya, it's a fruit."

"Vegetable!"

"Fruit!"

"Vegetable!"

"Why does she have a tomato?" Chase interrupted them.

Angela looked over at the window and they all hurriedly ducked. In a few seconds, Kathy crept up. "The coast is clear," she told them. Chase stayed on the floor, and so she sighed and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking him up.

"Hey!"

"Are you just going to sit and take that?" Kathy asked him, hands on her hips. "Your little girlfriend is too scared to even woo you. She's switched to Gill and tomatoes because she's so embarrassed since you're always so mean to her! Go and apologize to her!"

"I don't have anything to apologize for, you two were the ones who scared her so bad she hit Gill- and she's not my girlfriend, anyways! I don't care about her at all!"

He looked out the window nevertheless, and Kathy rolled her eyes.

* * *

The next day, Gill entered the Sundae Inn.

"Hi Gill!" Maya called to him enthusiastically.

Chase, who had been washing dishes in the kitchen, jumped so high that he slammed his head against the overhead cabinets.

"Just ignore Chase, he's in a jealous rage," Kathy told the blonde cheerfully, extending her hand to him. "It's not often we see you around here."

Chase turned and shot a dark look at her. She looked away, winking at Gill. "I'm not in a jealous rage!" the boy snapped.

"Gill, is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?"

"Uh-,"

"Maya, don't pester your customers!" Kathy chastised her friend. "Sorry Gill. What Maya meant to say was, what would you like today? Chase will make it for you right away."

The trio distinctly heard an angry, "Like hell," from the kitchen.

"Actually, I wanted some apple juice."

Chase banged his head against the cabinets again.

"Please, ignore him," Kathy told Gill.

Maya beamed up at the customer. "Hey, Angela loves apples, doesn't she? She _used _to come in and buy apple juice all of the time before _someone _asked why she wasted all of her time here."

Chase groaned. That wasn't one of his high points.

"Yeah, she does," Gill told them, and Chase watched in horror as a blush came onto the boy's cheeks. "I…kind of wanted to get some for her, to be honest…"

"Chase, hurry up and make apple juice for him!" Kathy told the gaping boy.

The waiter's eyes flashed as he looked at Gill, and he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket beside him, shoving it in the blender. Beneath the whizzing sound of the blender, the trio in the dining area could hear mutters of, "Stupid Gill," and "Can't believe he likes her."

Finally, Chase emerged from the kitchen with a glass of apple juice, shoving it into Gill's hands. He had at least had the decency to cover the top with foil so it didn't splash all over.

"Thanks," Gill said, pulling money from his pockets.

"Oh, no, this one is free," Kathy told him.

"What? You don't even work here right now!" Chase snapped. "Why are you even here?"

"Because I like to spend time with you," she patted him hard on his shoulder, making him wince. "Now get back in the kitchen, orangetop."

Maya giggled.

Chase walked away, swearing under his breath. Kathy turned to Gill and nodded, the boy returned the gesture and headed out the door.

"So, Chase," Kathy began as she headed into the kitchen. The boy groaned. Kathy coming into the kitchen was never good news. "You seemed pretty jealous of Gill back there."

"Why would I be?" he retorted.

"Because once upon a time Angela was trying to woo you, but since you blew her off and never did anything back, she decided to woo Gill instead and _he's _actually doing something back…so, to make a long story short-,"

"_Angela and Gill are going to get married~ and you're going to be lonely forever~!"_

"Well put, Maya," Kathy told her friend, patting her on the shoulder.

"Piss off," Chase told them both, pulling his apron over his head and tossing it the floor. "I'm leaving."

Maya and Kathy watched him go. When he left the door, Kathy turned to Maya and said, "I think maybe we went too far."

"No, I think we went just far enough."

Kathy hesitated and then laughed. "Says the girl who thinks a tomato is a vegetable."

"Coming from the girl who thinks it's a fruit!"

* * *

Chase headed to the Town Hall, his footsteps echoing in the empty streets. _Stupid Kathy. She's so damn bossy. And Maya, with her god-awful singing! No wonder they got along so well, they're both a bunch of damn idi-_

His own thoughts were cut off as he bumped into somebody.

"Oh, right, I guess this is for you, Ang-,"

Gill's apple juice spilled from his hand, and all over the person in front of him. Chase looked up in horror at Angela, who stared down at her soaked clothes and then looked at him, her cheeks bright red.

"Angela…I am so…so…sorry," Chase started, his jaw dropped.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going," Gill said, his voice as snooty as ever. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing at the front of Angela's shirt.

"It's okay, it's fine," Angela mumbled, pulling away. "Thanks anyways, Gill…"

She hesitated and then bolted past the boys.

Chase turned to Gill and said, "'I _guess _this is for you?'"

A light went off in his head. He thought of how Kathy had let Gill take the apple juice for free, and how they had dragged him to the window to see Angela holding the tomato…

"Well, why would I go and _buy _apple juice for _Angela_?" Gill replied when Chase voiced his questions. "I'm going out with Luna, after all. Kathy just asked me to-,"

Chase's eyes widened. "I got it." As soon as Kathy's name was mentioned there was no reason to here the rest of the explanation. _Those two idiots are a lot smarter than I thought, _he realized, turning and running after Angela.

She was sitting in front of the town square, talking to a bird and wiping her shirt with her own tissue.

"That was pretty embarrassing, wasn't it?" she asked the bird. "I don't know what Gill was up to…or what's up with Kathy and Maya, either…I mean, I had to give Gill one of my shining tomatoes…that would have made a lot of money! But…I don't know…"

He watched her pause, as if a thought had just come to her.

"Maybe they're trying to get me and Gill together," she told the bird, standing up and wiping more vigorously at her shirt. "But I don't know why. They know I-,"

"They're not trying to get you and Gill together," Chase murmured.

Angela jumped, nearly stepping on the bird. It flew away instantly, shouting at her from the skies.

"Oh…Chase…I didn't know you were there…and you saw me talk to myself…well, this day just keeps getting better and better…"

"Well, you were talking to the bird, actually. That makes it a little better."

She hesitated, as though unsure whether or not he was making fun of her, and then smiled. "I guess so."

"How come…you don't come to the Inn anymore?" he asked her awkwardly, his cheeks tinged with pink. He avoided her eyes and instead picked an interesting spot on the ground.

"Er…well…"

"Is it because of what I said?" he asked, finally forcing himself to look at her. "That whole…'Why do you always waste your time here?' thing? Because I didn't mean it, okay? I was just…being a jerk. I…" he swallowed hard. "I kind of liked when you stopped by."

He heard squeals from the open Inn window, but when he looked over there was nobody there.

_Great, they're never going to let me live this down…_

"Thanks, Chase," Angela told him softly, smiling up at him. "Maybe I'll start…coming by again."

"That'd be…nice," he mumbled.

"What you said…about Kathy and Maya not trying to get me and Gill together? Do you know what they've been trying to do, then? Because they told me I should take a tomato to Gill and then I saw them talking to him later, and he had that apple juice and everything…I don't really get what's going on."

Chase made a face and stared over at the Inn. Maya and Kathy were standing at the bar, pretending to be cleaning. He knew them better than that.

"They…saw that you weren't stopping by because I…had been a jerk to you…and they noticed that I…felt kind of bad about it. So they did this all to set you up…with me. To get me jealous of Gill so I would talk to you."

Angela's jaw dropped temporarily, and then she laughed. "Wow. I was…I was really off!"

Chase surprised himself by beginning to laugh. A wave of relief ran through him; rather than turning and running, like he probably would have, she was just giggling away.

"I'm sorry they tried to make you like me," Angela told him; her laughter began to die as though a new, terrible thought had caught her attention, and she began to walk away, brushing past him to get to the staircase. "I'll stop by tomorrow or something."

"But…er…okay," he mumbled. He watched her walk off to her farm and headed back into the Inn, his head in his hands.

Summary: At first, this was just going to be a oneshot, but I decided to prolong Chase's torture. If you're wondering why Angela leaves so soon, think of it this way; she's used to being put down by Chase, so she hurries away before he can make her feel bad again. Next chapter, Kathy and Maya start with the lessons. :p Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

"You IDIOT!"

A dirty washcloth came flying at his face; he very narrowly missed it by using the door as a shield. Kathy stood inside, glaring at him.

"Chase, Chase, Chase," Maya sighed. "I thought you'd finally gotten brave enough to tell her you like her!"

"I…I don't-,"

"Don't give us that crap about you not liking her!" Kathy said, sweeping the washcloth off the floor and using it to gesture in his face. He leaned back, frowning at her. "We know you do, and you totally messed up just now! You shouldn't have let her go back to the farm without telling her how you feel!"

Chase groaned. "I already know I screwed up, you don't have to make me feel worse. Plus, why are you guys so damn nosey?"

He went to the window and slammed it shut, shocking Mayor Hamilton, who was walking past.

"Because we wanted to hear you and Angela when you told each other 'I love you!'" Kathy snapped. "But you're a big chicken and you bowed out…totally ungracefully, too!"

"Wait," Maya said, holding her hand up very seriously. Chase and Kathy turned to her, surprised. "Chase has never told a girl that he liked her before. Angela is the first girl he's really liked. This is hard for him. We need to coach him."

"That's right!" Kathy answered, gazing at Maya in awe. "You're a genius! I can't expect him to be any more than a coward, he has no experience at all!"

Chase glared at her. "Gee, thanks Kat."

"Sit down, Chase," Kathy told him, kicking a chair out for him. She sat across from him, batting her eyelashes.

"No."

"Yes! I'll be Angela, and you be you."

"No."

"Chase!" Maya whined. "If you don't try, you're never going to be able to tell Angela you like her!"

Chase glanced over at her and sighed. "But Kathy and Angela are absolutely _nothing _alike. Why do you think I like Angela so much?"

"Gee, thanks Chase," Kathy rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Maya gasped. "For the first time ever, Chase admitted that he likes Angela! See, Chase, you can do it! Now tell Kathy that you love her!"

"…No."

"Oh, come on!" Kathy snapped. "Stop being a big baby, sit down, and tell me you love me."

Colleen, who had been coming down the stairs, frowned and walked back up them.

"Whoops. Poor mom," Maya sighed.

"Hurry up, Chase, before you scare all the women away."

"It's always _you_ who scares them away," Chase mumbled bitterly, taking the seat across from her very reluctantly.

Kathy smiled at him. "Now, tell me you like me."

"…I like you."

"Aw, Chase, I always knew you didn't hate me!"

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Angela!" he snapped. "If you're just going to screw around-,"

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Kathy rolled her eyes. "We'll play it your way. Now, tell me you love me."

Jake, who had obviously been sent down by his wife to investigate further, gave the three a questioning look and then headed up the stairs.

"I don't _love_-,"

"Okay, okay, if the L word still scares you, we'll use the baby L word first. Now, go ahead. I'll pretend I'm Angela."

Chase took a deep breath. "Angela, I like you."

Kathy gasped. "Y-you what? Then why were you so mean to me every time I came in the Inn?"

"Because…I'm a jerk."

"Why did you throw away that one orange I brought you?"

"Well, there was a moldy spot on it…"

Kathy banged her head against the table, pretending to be in hysterics. "Moldy orange! What are you insinuating about my farm, huh, Chase? How could you?"

"Oh, God dammit-,"

"And why did you hit me with that fork?"

"I already told you, that was an accident-,"

"And why didn't you help me up when I fell?"

"Well, I was kind of laughing, and I thought that would hurt your feelings-,"

"How come when I came to your house you didn't open the door?"

"I thought it was Kathy."

The blonde shot him a dark look, but continued nonetheless. "And how come you called me an idiot when I burned that dish?"

"Well, it's a really simple dish and you just totally wrecked it-,"

"Man, Chase, you're a jerk," Maya told him, shaking her head.

"What?" the chef asked innocently. "It's not my fault she's a bad cook."

Kathy sighed. "This is going to be a lot more difficult than it seems. Okay, I'm going to say something, and you reply with a _kind _statement. Alright?"

"Sure," Chase shrugged.

"How do you make herbal tea?"

"_What_?" Chase asked, rolling his eyes. "That's the easiest dish in the world! All you do is put a herb in the pot and-,"

Kathy pretended to cry again.

"No, I'm sorry, I…I…I'll teach you?" he offered.

Maya patted him on the head. "Good job Chase! Just because Angela doesn't know how to cook doesn't mean she can't learn. Besides, if you asked her some stupid question like how do you milk a cow, _she _wouldn't ridicule you. She'd offer to teach you."

"Why would I want to milk a cow?"

"You are totally missing the point," Kathy sighed. "Alright, since you're such a problem child, I'm going to have to break this down into baby steps for you."

Chase narrowed his eyes. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

Maya giggled and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil from her apron, passing it to her friend.

"Thank you, Maya…alright, this is simple really. A list of rules you must follow. Angela is probably going to start coming every single day again, so every day we can learn a new rule and hopefully not ruin our chances. Or, really, ruin your chance, because Angela loves us."

"She thinks you're crazy. Both of you," Chase retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really? Me and her went horse back riding a few days ago."

"We had lunch together last week!" Maya announced cheerfully.

"What?" Chase snapped, looking from back and forth between the girls. "Why am I just learning about this now?"

Kathy and Maya shrugged.

"I dunno, it didn't seem important," Kathy finally answered.

"Didn't seem important? You could just _ask _Angela if she likes me-,"

"Hey, you saw her waiting outside with that orange, too embarrassed to even come inside. If I asked her about you, she might have fallen off her horse and gotten trampled to death or something. We just have fun when we're hanging out, we don't ruin the conversation talking about you."

Chase glared at Kathy, folding his arms as tight as possible. "Fine, whatever. What kind of stupid rules am I going to be learning then?"

"They all pertain to one simple goal we have for you, really…Maya, you write down the title of our little project, my handwriting is crappy…"

"Okay!" Maya announced cheerfully, taking the pencil and paper and neatly writing out a few words before proudly showing it off to Chase.

"'How to Not Be a Jerk.'" He read, and then he let loose a deep breath. "How many rules are there?"

"However many we come up with, judging from your interactions with Angela."

"Maybe fifty?" Maya guessed.

Chase turned his glare to her instead. "Fine! We'll play this stupid little game."

Kathy and Maya exchanged a grin.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! (: I appreciate it. And thanks for reading through this chapter, I hope you liked it. I made Kathy out to be pretty insane in my last fic, so I decided to make her a bigger character in this one, and a funnier, more interesting one. Sorry if they seem a bit out of character, but this is just how I imagine them acting judging on the repeated dialogue they always offer. And I'm sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the other, but I'll be updating pretty quickly since I have like four other chapters written already haha. Anyways, next chapter will be Chase's first lesson on how to not be a jerk, and Angela will definitely take part in it. Thanks again! (:


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

"Okay, rule number one," Maya announced, getting her pad of paper and pencil ready as they waited for Angela's arrival.

"Be polite. Kindness is something you've always been lacking, but it's really starting to annoy everyone," Kathy told Chase. He opened his mouth but seemed to think better of it, considering this new rule, and closed it again. "We don't get why Angela still likes you considering you've been such a jerk, but oh well. That's what we're here for. Understand?"

Through gritted teeth, he mumbled, "I get it."

"Alright, then, let's practice. This time, Maya will be Angela. I'll just be me, since I'll be judging you either way."

"Fantastic," Chase lied.

Maya walked up to him, tripping over her feet the way Angela often did. Chase tried not to laugh. "Hey Chase," she said in a surprisingly good imitation of Angela's gentle voice.

"…Hey."

"You already messed up!" Kathy sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "You can't just stare at her like she's crazy and then say the same thing. If she says hi, say hi back _quickly_."

"Okay, okay," Chase mumbled. "Let's try again."

"Hey Cha-,"

"Hi!"

Kathy put her face in her hands, but mumbled, "That's fine, it's fine. Keep going."

"How's your day going so far?" Maya asked him, tilting her head to the side. Chase found it hard to take her roleplay as Angela seriously, considering she was wearing a poofy pink dress that a farmer would never be caught dead in.

"Fine."

"Could you be a little less talkative, Chase? I mean really, you're just talking us all to death," Kathy told him. "We're totally sick of your annoying voice, so just stop your rambling-,"

"I get it," Chase repeated. "My day's going fine. How about yours, Angela?"

"Well, today," Maya began, putting a thoughtful hand on her chin. "First I woke up, and then I went in the barn and I checked on my cow and I realized that she's coming down with a cold!"

Chase covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

"So I rushed straight to Brownie Ranch to get her some medicine and- why are you laughing at me?"

"I, I just…"

Maya's eyes swelled with tears. "Bessie is my best friend! How could you just laugh at her pain? She has a _cold_, Chase. My grandma once caught a cold, and the next day she was dead."

"Is that true?" Chase gasped.

"I don't know, how would I know about Angela's grandma?" Maya asked, giving him a strange look.

Kathy sighed. "Chase, part of being polite is at least feigning interest in what the person you care about is talking about- especially if what they're talking about is important to them. Angela loves her ranch, and so you need to try hard to be kind about what she's saying and-,"

"She's here!" Maya exclaimed. "She's coming!"

"Now remember the golden rule: be polite!" Kathy ordered him, swatting him with the pad of paper before she and Maya hurried away.

Angela walked in and exchanged a smile with the girls before heading to the kitchen; she stood in the doorway, looking terrified to come all the way in, and smiled at him.

"Hey, Ch-,"

"Hi!"

Kathy turned and began to hit her head against the wall. Maya giggled.

"Um…" Angela looked suspiciously at Chase, probably worried he was teasing her. "How's your day going?"

"It's been…good," he forced the word out, shooting a look over at Kathy, who stopped hitting her head long enough to give him a thumbs up. "What about your day?"

"Well," she began, and she put her hand over her chin the same way Maya had. "When I woke up, I went into my barn, and my cow-,"

"Bessie?"

"Um…no…" she mumbled, blushing. "Her name is Annabeth."

"Oh…sorry, I just…um…my uncle had a cow named Bessie?"

"Oh, that's cute," Angela replied, offering him a smile that looked rather forced.

Chase's cheeks heated up. "Sorry to interrupt. You were saying, about your cow Annabeth?"

"Right…um, well, I think she has a cold."

Chase slapped his hand over his mouth. Kathy continued to hit her head against the wall.

Angela looked down at the ground. "I…I better go ask Cain or Hannah about medicine then…"

"No, wait! I…I think…colds are very serious," Chase told her. "I mean, um…I know someone whose grandma once caught a cold, and then she died the next day."

Angela gasped. "You think Annabeth is going to _die_?"

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I just...um…" he hung his head in defeat. "Yeah you should go get that medicine."

"Yeah…thanks, Chase…I'll um…I'll see you around," she answered, dashing out the door.

Kathy approached him, folding her arms and shaking her head.

"Go ahead, hit me. I deserve it this time," he mumbled.

"I'm too shocked to even hit you. I can't believe you told her that Annabeth was going to _die_."

"I didn't mean it like that!" he protested. "I was just trying to keep the conversation going, and I-,"

"If you hadn't laughed at her poor cow, you wouldn't have gotten into that situation," Maya chastised him.

"Well, it's just…it's like you knew everything she was going to say!"

Maya laughed. "Oh, well, yeah, of course I did. I stopped by her farm this morning to give her a recipe book dad promised her, and she told me that Annabeth was under the weather."

"Then why did you say Bessie when you were talking to me? And why didn't you tell me that it was _real_?"

"Because I like the name Bessie better than the name Annabeth," Maya replied simply.

Kathy began to laugh, covering her mouth to stifle it.

"Hey! You two got me into this whole mess with your crappy teaching. Now you need to help me get out of it!" He grabbed onto Kathy's shoulders and shook her until she sighed.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. That was only the _first _rule. And you managed to break it in a million inconsiderate different ways-,"

"Alright, laughing and insinuating that Annabeth was going to die were the only two times I would say I was 'inconsiderate-,'"

"You did interrupt her with that stupid name," Kathy reminded him.

"Well I've learned my lesson: never trust Maya. Can we move on?"

Maya grinned. "Oh, don't be mad. I get to choose the next rule!"

"Oh Goddess…"

Author's Note: Poor Chase. I get myself into these situations all the time, so I can definitely empathize with him. Up next: what happens to Annabeth? :P Thanks for the reviews, and thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter, and the next one should be up tomorrow. (:


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

"Rule number two: show her that you care about her."

"Good one, Maya!" Kathy said approvingly, writing the new rule in chicken scratch under the last, which Maya had elegantly scrawled across the page the day before.

Chase rolled his eyes. "That is so dumb. She's not gonna want me running around opening doors for her and stuff like that-,"

"She'd like to have at least a hint that you don't hate her every once in a while, though," Maya scolded him. "She always thinks you're making fun of her because you _always _do. So you need to show her you care and _not _be a jerk for once!"

Kathy began to applaud her friend, saying, "Wow, Maya, I didn't know you had that in you!"

"Neither did I," the girl shrugged, dusting her dress off. "Now, practice! What do you do if Angela falls?"

"Help her up?"

"WRONG!" Kathy announced, making a buzzing sound. Chase jumped, looking over at her in surprise.

"You catch her _before _she falls," Maya corrected him.

"But what if she's all the way across the room and-,"

"And you don't want to look like an idiot? Trust me, Chase, running and catching her isn't going to add or detract any from your usual idiocy," Kathy told him, smirking.

Chase glared over at her, but kept his mouth shut. He had an idea that learning how to ignore Kathy and not argue with her would teach him to appreciate Angela's timid and polite attitude even more. Juxtaposing the two together always reminded him why he liked the farmer.

"Next question," Maya began to march around the room, getting his attention. "If Angela says she's cold, you…?"

"I don't have a jacket, so…"

"You could still turn on the heater, Chase," Kathy told him. "Or tell her you'll ask one of us for a jacket that she can borrow. There's always a way to show her you care."

Chase rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"And if Angela starts to cry, you…?"

"Why would she cry?" Chase asked, looking puzzled.

"Maybe because the jinx you put on her cow worked and it died?" Kathy suggested. "Or maybe because she remembers that time you hit her with a fork-,"

"I already told you, that was an accident!" Chase argued. "And fine, okay, I get it. I comfort her."

Maya smiled. "How?"

"Um…I'll…wipe away her tears?" he suggested, grimacing at the thought of how easily he could poke her eye or stab her with a nail.

Maya and Kathy exchanged an impressed look, and it was the bartender-in-training who patted him on the head and said, "Good job, Chase. That was actually a really good answer. But, before Angela comes in…there's something we should work on."

"What?" he asked. The fact that Kathy had complimented him made him more nervous than proud.

"Let her finish saying hello before you say hi," she told him, sighing. "You're going to scare the hell out of her if you start talking before she's even finished."

"Oh…right. Yeah, I got it."

Maya jumped, pointing anxiously at the door. She didn't have to say a word- they all got the message. Kathy and Maya ran towards the Inn's desk, pretending to look through files, and he leaned against the oven and hoped he hadn't left it on.

Angela walked in looking rather down. _Please don't cry. I might poke your eye, or accidentally pull your hair or pinch your cheeks or anything, I don't know, there could be a million different injuries…I could blind you, or-_

"Hello, Chase," she told him, leaning against the doorway.

"Uh…hey…you look…sad."

Kathy turned to Maya and sighed. "Why is it that we waste all this time teaching him and yet he always manages to turn his training into something only a jerk would say?"

"Mom and dad said it's a gift," Maya replied.

Kathy hesitated and then nodded. "That's a good point. Nobody else makes me feel like crap quite the way that Chase does."

"Sorry," Angela mumbled.

"Um…what's wrong?" Chase forced himself to say. Kathy pretended to silently clap until she accidentally made a sound; when Angela turned, she pretended she was trying to catch a fly in the air, clapping her hands over and over again.

She turned back and mumbled, "Annabeth passed away this morning."

Kathy and Maya gasped, pointing at Chase and mouthing, "Cow killer!"

Chase himself gasped as well. "Oh…Angela…I'm really, really sorry…that's…that sucks. That really sucks."

"Yeah…it…sucks…" she mumbled. "I guess you were right. You can get a cold and then the next day…dead."

Chase slapped his hand over his face when she wasn't looking. _You really did it now_, he told himself. "I'm sorry…about saying that," he told her quickly. "I just…thought of it…it was really insensitive, though. The person whose grandma supposedly died was a liar, anyways, so I should never have believed them."

He shot a pointed look at Maya, who was pretending to flip through a menu. Angela looked up, puzzled, and he continued quickly.

"Um…did you bury Be- I mean, Annabeth, Annabeth…did you bury her already?"

"Not yet," Angela replied glumly. "I can't carry her to the graves and I didn't know how to ask. I was thinking about going to Town Hall and asking Gill-,"

"We'll help!" Chase told her quickly. "Me, Maya and Kathy. They don't mind. Right, guys?"

Kathy and Maya turned to each other and paused, each pleading with the other to come up with some excuse. When neither of them could come up with something, they finally turned back and nodded. When Angela turned back to Chase, they shot him dark looks; Kathy flipped him off.

"Let's go, then," Chase told her, spinning Angela around and pushing her towards the door. "We'll have a little cow funeral."

"I'll say a few words," Maya declared. "I mean, I knew Annabeth really well. She was a good cow…very quiet…"

"Save it for the funeral, Maya," Kathy told her friend. When Angela was out the door, she smacked Chase in the back of the head. He shrugged innocently as she mumbled, "Cow killer," and walked out the door as well.

Angela walked ahead of them to the cemetery, carrying the bell that had once hung around Annabeth's neck in her hands as she cried. Behind her, Maya, Kathy and Chase staggered under the cow's weight, limping over to the graves.

"I'm getting my dress all dirty!" Maya complained.

"Would you two shut up? This is really serious for Angela, okay?" Chase snapped. "Annabeth was the first animal she ever got when she moved here, and now she's dead! Angela is devastated. The least we can do is help put the thing in a proper grave."

Kathy sighed. "I almost wish our lessons hadn't worked so well, but you're right. Angela is our friend. We might not want to carry this thing around, but it meant something to her, and she's not in a fit state to help out."

Angela stood at the graves, waiting until they finally brought the cow; Maya let go of it when they arrived, and Chase and Kathy struggled to set it gracefully to the ground under Angela's watchful eyes.

The farmer pulled out her shovel and began to dig, but Chase took it from her and started to himself. He said nothing, and didn't even look at her, but Angela smiled, clasping her hands and the bell in front of her chest.

Cain came hurrying up, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, I'm not late. I was afraid I'd…oh, Annabeth," he began to sniffle. "I raised you for so many years! You were the best cow we ever had…but you were destined to live out your last, happy year with Angela. I'm just sad that you two weren't able to spend more time together."

"It does kind of suck," Maya noted. Chase glared at her.

"Is this good enough?" he asked Cain.

The man hesitated and then nodded. "Yep. You kids go ahead and put dear old Annabeth in."

Chase, Kathy and Maya stared at him, waiting for him to help, but he continued to stare. Finally, the three hoisted the cow up and struggled to set it down gently; Maya gave up halfway, and Kathy ended up nearly falling into the grave herself. Chase laughed at her and then turned it into a cough when he remembered how serious the situation was.

As Chase put dirt over the cow, with the help of Cain, who kicked it to the side, Maya cleared her throat, stood on top of Mayor Hamilia's grave, and began to speak.

"Annabeth, you were a good cow," she started, heaving a loud sigh. "But alas, you were destined to only live a short life. You spent several rather boring years living in Cain's barn, but the last year of your life was filled with nothing but joy…until you were jinxed."

Chase looked up, eyes wide.

"I mean, until you caught a cold. And then…everything went downhill. We gather here to lay you to rest peacefully because you deserve it. Ah, I remember the first time I met you like it was yesterday...I didn't like you."

Kathy covered her face as Angela stared up at the girl with a frown.

"You were smelly. And dirty. But I saw how much Angela liked you, so I gave you a chance, and you kind of grew on me. I fed you that day, and I couldn't help but like you. You were kind of…cute. Though I'll never admit to saying that again. I hate animals, but I made an exception for you."

Angela's expression softened into a smile, and Kathy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, Angela, you should say something."

"Um…I don't know what to say," she admitted. "Annabeth was really important to me. She was…the first pet I ever had. And she brought a lot of money to my ranch and really helped me get started. But…I guess she's happy now, wherever she is. I'm sorry I couldn't help you live longer, Annabeth."

Chase patted the dirt down over the grave, and Angela stooped and gently pressed the bell down into the earth. "Good bye, Annabeth. I'll miss you."

Cain covered his face, and even Kathy and Maya looked on the verge of tears. Chase patted Angela's shoulder, but wasn't too sure what to say. The usual things you say at deaths- _S/he'll always be a part of you, s/he's looking down on your right now _- didn't seem to fit, so he merely grimaced at her.

Angela threw herself against him, shaking. Kathy and Maya looked up, stunned, as he awkwardly set his arm around her, and held the fragile farmer to him.

Author's Note: Poor Annabeth. But don't worry, she lived a long, happy life haha. And for once, Chase didn't screw up! Thanks for the reviews, and sorry this chapter was a tad more depressing than the others. Hopefully you liked it anyways! Thanks for reading. (:


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

When Chase showed up at the Inn the next day, Maya and Kathy were waiting for him with a cake.

_Oh crap, _he thought instantly. _Please tell me it's not one of their birthdays. When I forgot Kathy's birthday last time she tried to lock me in the bathroom._

"So…so this is for…"

"It's for you, because you did so good yesterday!" Maya exclaimed.

_Oh thank Goddess._

"Yeah, seriously. I was impressed, orangetop," Kathy told him, grinning. "I didn't think you had it in you, but you totally comforted her. You really came through when she needed you, you know? Even though it was your fault poor Annabeth died."

His smiled died. "It was not my fault, I didn't _really _jinx the thing-,"

"That we know of," Maya interrupted. "But let's forget about that and have some cake! Look, we even wrote something on it!"

"Congratulations…on being…a little less of a jerk," Chase read, squinting to read the messily applied frosting. "Kathy wrote this, right?"

The blonde narrowed her eyes angrily. "Alright, enough of your smart remarks, Chase, let's eat."

"Sure," he shrugged, letting Kathy cut a piece for him. He noticed that she had quite a bit of trouble, but guessed that she was just weak. When he got his piece, he dug his fork in- it resisted a little, but he still didn't worry- and took the first bite.

He spit it out all over the table just as the door opened.

"Maya made this, didn't she?" he demanded, tossing the fork down.

Maya pouted. "It wasn't good, was it? I don't know why, but every time I try to make a cake, it just turns rock hard…oh, hi Angela."

Chase turned to Angela, who was staring at the cake he had just spit out with slight disgust. "…Hey Maya, Kathy, Chase…if this is a bad time, I can just…"

"No, no, it's fine," Kathy replied, ushering her in. "Chase is just overreacting. He can be a real jerk sometimes, as I'm sure you noticed."

"Oh, I…I wouldn't say-," Angela stuttered nervously.

Chase turned to Maya and forced himself to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…be…rude…"

"Sorry, what was that?" Maya asked. "I was a little distracted. Could you repeat what you said, Chase?"

"No way in he-," he looked over at Angela and Kathy; the farmer was wide eyed, whereas the girl beside her had a smirk on her face. "I mean…I said I was sorry, Maya. I didn't mean to be rude and spit out your cake. I just didn't expect it to be so…hard."

Maya gave him a smug smile. "I forgive you, Chase. Because we're such good friends."

"…Yeah, I guess you could say that," he muttered, turning away from her. "How are you feeling, Angela?"

"Okay," she answered. She had a smile on her face, but he noticed that it didn't stretch to her eyes; she stared at the floor, the gleam replaced by a dull sadness.

_ She still misses the cow, _he realized, only to be distracted by Kathy suddenly waving the notebook around behind Angela. It took him a minute to read her terrible handwriting, but he finally deciphered the words _touchy feely._

"What?" he mouthed at her.

She pretended to pat Angela's head; the farmer spun around, but by that time, Kathy was pretending to write in her notebook again. When she turned back, Kathy merely began to do the same thing. Chase shook his head, giving her a strange look, until he realized that Angela was looking at him.

"Um…are you sure?" he asked, hesitantly setting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with surprised eyes, and then saw the fear etched all over his face and looked away again, looking rather freaked out.

"Yeah…"

"Don't be creepy!" Kathy mouthed. She put her fingers on the edge of her lips and pulled them into a smile; he hoped that she was telling him to smile and not to force Angela to.

He put on his best smile, which wasn't much different from his usual smile, and said, "It's okay if you still miss Annabeth. I mean, she was really important to you."

Kathy gave him the thumbs up.

Angela truly smiled for the first time, her cheeks red. "Thanks, Chase," she told him, lifting her head to look at him in the eyes. He held eye contact for three seconds before he looked away, removing his hand quickly. Kathy sighed.

"Chase, clean up the mess you made," Maya told him, surprising the three. Chase opened his mouth to say something, but Maya continued over him. "Me and Kathy have to go make the beds. Hurry up, Kathy."

"B-but, Chase, he'll-,"

"Come on," the girl said, dragging away her friend. Chase watched them head up the staircase, and just before Maya was out of sight she turned and winked.

_Oh great. She's trying to leave me and Angela alone. Now I have no idea what to do, I need Kathy to keep mouthing her stupid instructions. At least then I do _something_, rather than just stand here looking like an idiot. I wonder how long it will take Angela to leave. What if she gets so bored she decides to never come back? And what- what is she doing?_

Angela had fetched a towel that Kathy had been using previously and come over to the table, wiping all of the cake crumbs to the edge.

"It's not your birthday, is it?" she asked. "Or, no…it says…'Congratulations on being…'"

She looked at him questioningly and he stared down at the cake slice he had had, which proudly said 'of a jerk' on it. The slice Kathy had cut for herself had 'a little less.' He looked at the farmer to see if she had made this connection herself, but she was merely waiting for an explanation from him.

He picked up the plates that held the slices and the cake itself. "On being…such a good chef…it was supposed to say…yeah…"

Angela smiled and watched him as he went into the kitchen. She wiped the rest of the crumbs into her hand and carried them over to the trashcan that he hurriedly dumped the cake in, and let them fall in. He was glad that she hadn't been too disgusted by the fact that it was in his mouth at first, but then she turned and washed her hands.

"Chase, can I ask you something?"

"Yes!" he answered quickly. He was grateful that Kathy and Maya had left for once, and hadn't seen that. Kathy would scold him for not using the three second rule she had tried to explain the night before.

Angela turned to him and then asked, "How do you make herbal tea?"

He stared at her, wide eyed. _What was it that I was supposed to say? _He screamed in his head. _Don't laugh. If you laugh, you're going to totally ruin everything!_

"Chase?"

"I'm sorry…it's just…that recipe…is just so easy…" _Damn it._

Angela's face fell. "Oh. Yeah. I guess it was a stupid question-,"

"No, I meant…for me. So…it'll be really easy to…to teach you! I can teach you right now, if you'd like," he told her, offering up a smile that he hoped would do damage repair for everything stupid he had said and done so far.

The farmer hesitated and then smiled. "Yeah. That'd be nice. Thanks, Chase."

Kathy and Maya crept downstairs a half hour later, expecting to find Chase sitting there alone crying in the corner- that was Maya's guess- or destroying the kitchen- Kathy's- but instead, he was standing with Angela at the stove.

They exchanged an incredulous look and snuck closer. Chase turned to look down at Angela, and she looked at him, and the genuine smiles on their faces shocked both girls.

"I've never seen Chase look so happy!" Maya whispered.

Kathy grinned. "Our little orangetop is really growing up. There's no way he can screw this up!"

And then he did.

He poured the herbal tea into a cup for her and asked, "Why did you want to make herbal tea, anyways?"

"Oh, since it's Luke's birthday I wanted to-,"

"Luke?" Chase asked, annoyance erasing any hints that he had ever smiled. "We just spent a half hour cooking for the carpenter?"

Angela looked stunned. "Well, like I said, it's his _birthday_…and I didn't make you teach me, you offered."

"Well I didn't know it was for _him_!I thought you just wanted it for yourself or just wanted to learn or…" _Or maybe just wanted to spend time with me. Luke, of all people! I hate that guy! He's almost as idiotic as Maya and Kathy!_

The farmer stared at him for a moment, as if hoping he would call out, 'Just kidding!' and then shook her head. "Well, I'm sorry I thought you actually wanted to help me out. _Excuse me. _I'll just get out of your way."

Kathy and Maya barely hid in time, gasping the entire way.

"Angela, wait-," Chase began, but the front door to the Inn slammed shut in response.

Kathy and Maya came out of hiding, shaking their heads.

"You do realize Luke is Angela's best friend, right?" Kathy asked him, arms folded.

Chase looked at her with surprise. "He is? I never knew that. How would I know that?"

"If you paid a little attention to her when she talks to you. How often does she talk about going to Ganache Mine District?"

"She didn't mention a thing about it recently-,"

"Back when she _used _to come every day she would mention it. Not to mention she comes here at like, the afternoon. She takes care of her crops and her animals and then goes to visit him before coming over here. That's why she came so early, she wanted to see you to ask for help to make her best friend's gift. You should be honored! If I had to make something for Maya I would only ask someone whose opinion I really valued!"

Chase hesitated and thought about this. He didn't have any particularly close friends; he supposed Maya and Kathy would argue that he had them, though. And if he wanted to get them a present…he would probably ask Angela.

"Well, what do I do now? She totally hates me!" Chase sighed, covering his face.

"This is going to take some serious damage control," Maya stated, pulling her notebook from her pocket.

"Just leave it to us," Kathy told him with a grin.

This didn't make Chase feel any better.

Author's Note: Poor Chase. But don't worry, Maya and Kathy can handle it. :P Anyways, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. And thanks for reading so far, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one should be up either tomorrow or the day after. (:


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

The next day, a knock on his door woke Chase up.

He sat up instantly, and a glimmer of hope rose in him. _Maybe it's Angela! Maybe she came to apologize for storming out. Or to tell me that she forgives me...she is the type to apologize when she's done nothing wrong. Maybe I won't even have to apologize for being a jerk! Huh, that'd be nice. I hate apologizing._

The knock sounded again, but louder.

_Well, that's not Angela. She wouldn't be able to knock harder than a tap. Please don't let it be Kathy and Maya. Please don't let it be Kathy and Maya. Please don't let it be Kathy and Maya._

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with a chorus of, "It's time for rule number four!"

He slammed the door shut.

"Aw, come on Chase! You haven't totally screwed up yet!" Kathy shouted. "You mastered the first three rules- sort of. You learned how to be polite, show her you care, and be more touchy feely-,"

"Isn't that basically the same thing as showing her he cares?"

"Look, if you can come up with some better rules, Miss I-Can't-Tell-The-Difference-Between-A-Fruit-And-A-Vegetable-,"

"That's a really long name!" Maya announced, and then gasped. "Are you talking about tomatoes again? Because a tomato is a vegetable, Kathy!"

"No, it's not, it's a fruit!"

"Vegetable!"

"Fruit!"

"Vegetable!"

Chase flung the door open; it slammed against the wall with a loud bang, frightening the nearby animals.

"You two are _such _idiots. A tomato is a fruit, Maya. Fruit. And Kathy, your rules suck. You basically just copied Maya's rule!"

Kathy and Maya both pouted.

"We came here to help, but if you're going to be a jerk again…maybe we'll just go tell Angela to forget about you," Maya sighed.

"Yeah. You're just too far gone, Chase. Even I can't fix your attitude-,"

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Chase apologized quickly, groaning. _I _hate _apologizing. _"I didn't mean it. You two…you two aren't _idiots_…" _But you're definitely pretty dumb._

Kathy smirked. "Oh, I love to here you admitting that you were wrong, Chase. It's my favorite part of working at the bar. Anyways, Maya created the new rule this time, and you're already doing good."

Chase looked at Maya suspiciously. "What's the rule?"

"Apologize when you do something stupid or wrong," Maya told him, waving the notebook in his face. "But we're not gonna apologize to Angela."

The chef rolled his eyes. "Then how the hell am I going to get her to forgive me? I _have _to apologize-,"

Kathy put up a hand to stop him, but smiled. "I like to hear you insisting on apologizing. It shows you care. But, we're going above and beyond Angela. You're not going to apologize to her _yet_, because first you're going to apologize to Luke."

A moment of silence passed.

"No way in hell."

"Yes way!" Maya announced, poking Chase hard in the chest. He looked at her with surprise; Kathy was the violent one, not Maya. "You're going to start by apologizing to Luke and giving him a late birthday present. But that's just today. Tomorrow, we launch into full scale rule number five: the final rule."

"What's the final rule?" Chase asked suspiciously.

Kathy smirked. "You'll find out tomorrow, right? But you're not going to see Angela today. We encouraged her to go to Toucan Island."

"Then what good is apologizing to Luke going to do? The whole point of apologizing would be to get _her _to forgive me. If she doesn't witness it, what's the point?"

Both girls shook their heads. Kathy rolled her eyes, shrugging. "While you make him some herbal tea, ponder that. We'll be waiting out here, so hurry up."

Chase rolled his eyes as well and went back inside, slamming a pot onto the stove and yanking a green herb from the fridge. _So stupid! Apologizing to him when Angela isn't even here? The only reason I would apologize to him is if I said something mean about him, and it's not like I did._

_ "We just spent a half hour cooking for the carpenter?"_

_ "Well I didn't know it was for _him_!"_

_ Well…I did say some _kind of_ mean things about him…I said stuff that definitely implied some mean things…not to mention I didn't _think _too highly of him…but what's the point of apologizing?_

He thought about it for a moment, and then a realization hit him. He poured the herbal tea into a cup and then stopped before he opened his door, looking at the mirror next to it. He stared at his reflection, grimacing.

_Am I really that big of a jerk that it took me that long to realize this?_

"Do you understand now?" Kathy asked when he came out.

"I get it," Chase mumbled. "I was a jerk about Luke. It doesn't matter if Angela is there or not; apologizing is the right thing to do, and I owe it to him. If she found out, that'd be nice, but if she doesn't, at least I'll know. Being a better person just when she's there is stupid. I should be a better person all around, or all that time you guys spent teaching me is a big waste."

Maya and Kathy exchanged a smile, and then he felt Kathy throw her arms around him, laughing.

"I'm so proud of you, Chase! Maybe you're not such a jerk after all!" she announced.

He rolled his eyes, and Maya hurriedly took the tea for him. For a moment, he patted her back, and then he said, "Alright. Get off."

She pulled away and punched him in the shoulder, laughing. He winced, clutching his arm, but apparently it was just one of her displays of affection, because she kept on laughing. "I knew it! I knew that my best friend wasn't a jerk!"

"Huh?" he asked, looking up in surprise.

"You're our best friend, Chase," Maya told him, giggling. "We spend all day with you. We kinda like you, you know. You've grown on us. Why do you think we knew you liked Angela? We know you more than anyone else!"

Chase stared at them in shock for a moment and then grinned, taking the tea back. "I guess…I guess you guys _are _my best friends…even if you're not too bright…but I'm never going to admit that to anyone else."

"We know!" they sang, pulling him to Ganache Mine District.

* * *

"So I wanted to apologize," Chase told Luke, who was holding the herbal tea and looking at the chef in awe. "I was a jerk and I shouldn't have gotten so angry about her making tea for you. You're her best friend and it was…rude of me to think and say the things I did."

Luke continued to stare, and then he began to laugh, punching Chase in the same spot Kathy had with his free hand.

"You don't have to apologize, man!" he told Chase, who was clutching his arm again. "I forgive you. I always thought you had a thing for Angela and her for you. No wonder she seemed all upset yesterday…look, you should really apologize to her. She'll forgive you as long as you do."

"I will," Chase mumbled, wincing. No wonder Kathy always seemed so fond of Luke, they were just like each other. "Thanks, Luke."

"No problem. Good luck with Angie!" the carpenter told him enthusiastically.

"Yeah…thanks," Chase replied as he walked away. _Angie? That's so stupid…oh great, I'm already being a jerk again…_

Kathy and Maya grinned, clapping their hands when he reached the entrance to the forest and met with them again.

"Yay! You apologized without being a total jerk!" Maya cheered.

"Yeah! You didn't screw up! Congrats, Chase!"

"…Thanks, guys," Chase muttered, glaring at them. "Now how am I going to get Angela to forgive me?"

The girls looked at each other, giggled, and then said, "You'll see tomorrow!" Chase opened his mouth to argue, but they began to run off, racing each other over to the mines.

_Dammit! Kathy is going to go flirt with Owen, and she'll kill me if I go in there with them and interrupt. _

He started the walk home, thinking of the look on Angela's face when she had stormed off.

_I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow._

Author's Note: So, next chapter we'll find out what steps Kathy and Maya want Chase to take to apologize to Angela- because obviously it can't just be a simply apology. :P Anyways I hope you liked this chapter, because it was one of my favorites- even though Angela wasn't even in it. Thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading! (:


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

Jake and Chase stared at each other, each with one eyebrow raised.

"…Chase."

"Jake."

The man paused, probably thinking of all the strange things he had seen and heard from Chase, Kathy and Maya in the past few days. "Why are you here? It's your day off," he finally asked.

"Kathy and Maya invited me."

Jake looked around and then shrugged. "Well…if you say so…"

"Your dad is acting really weird," Chase told Maya when he entered her room. She was trying to braid Kathy's hair, though he noticed that stray blonde hairs seemed to be dropping by the second due to the rough way she tugged on the strands.

Maya giggled. "That's because he thinks you're weird!"

"Plus I told him and dad about how you jinxed Angela's cow to death," Kathy tacked on.

Chase glared at her and then grabbed a few hairs from her half braid, half ponytail. "You're shedding, Kat," he told her, tearing them out.

"Ow, you jerk! Those hairs were still attached!"

"Oops," he shrugged innocently, tossing the hairs to the side. "Now, stop playing around and tell me the final rule."

"We'll tell you the final rule," Maya began, and then she paused, brushing Kathy's braids out so it was back to her normal ponytail. "…After you finish all of today's tasks."

The chef's eyes widened. "What do you mean, tasks? If you guys make me do a bunch of stupid crap just for your amusement-,"

"Oh, calm down," Kathy sighed, rolling her eyes. "We came up with some stuff that actually _will _help Angela forgive you. It's part of rule number two- and definitely different from rule number three, so as you'll see there _is _a difference between the two- showing her you care."

"So I'm not going to be touchy feely?"

"No. You're going to start off-,"

"By making Annabeth's grave pretty!" Maya announced cheerfully, thrusting her hairbrush into the air. "Angela was really sad when she died, and you being a jerk to her the day after didn't help. So, to show that you realize Annabeth was important, you can clean her grave and leave flowers."

"Where am I supposed to get flowers?" Chase demanded. "The only places with flowers are Angela's farm-and I can't exactly take flowers from her farm-, Craig's place- and there's no way he'd let me take any-, or the Town Hall, and there is absolutely _no way_…"

* * *

"Hello Gill," Chase said as politely as he could through gritted teeth. His hands were balled into fists in his pockets. He knew that Gill was going out with Luna, and hadn't actually liked Angela, but he couldn't help but think of the way he had blushed when he bought apple juice- not to mention the fact that he had toyed with Angela's feelings and gone along with one of Kathy and Maya's stupid plans.

The blonde regarded the chef with an air of superiority for a moment before saying, "What do you want?"

"I never apologized the other day for bumping into you when you were talking to Angela, and for being rude when you came to buy apple juice. So…I'm sorry," he said quickly, and then grimaced. _I hate apologizing to Gill even more than I hated apologizing to Kathy and Maya._

Gill hesitated and then shrugged. "I _suppose _I can forgive you," he said as snottily as possible, and then turned and began to sort through his papers.

Chase didn't move.

"Is there something _else _you wanted to say?" Gill asked, heaving a sigh that let Chase know he had long outstayed his welcome. Elli watched the two with wide eyes and tapped her fingers nervously against the counter. One look from Gill silenced her.

"I…wanted…to borrow some flowers from the Town Hall."

"Borrow as in later you would just replant them and pay me back?"  
"…Okay, I want to take some flowers from Town Hall, but with your permission. I wanted to place them by Angela's cow Annabeth's grave."

Elli smiled, but when Chase looked at her, she quickly looked down.

"Well, I suppose…Angela has brought a lot of good to Waffle Island…but then the flowers won't be growing in a symmetrical formation…"

_I told Kathy and Maya it would never work._

"I suppose a few flowers won't hurt, but only because it's for the farmer," Gill finally said.

Chase gasped. "What? You're seriously going to let me throw off the symmetry? You're going to let me take flowers from the Town Hall?"  
"I already told you-,"

"Do you like Angela or something?" Chase asked, raising one suspicious eyebrow. Jealousy gnawed at his stomach, and he was nearly overcome with the urge to lock Gill in his stupid waste of a library.

The blonde sighed. "I already told you, I'm going out with Luna. Now hurry and pick the flowers before I change my mind, Chase."

The chef felt his cheeks heat up, but nodded and hurried out. _Great, now I just made a total fool of myself in front of Gill. Oh well. At least I can get the stupid flowers. _He picked five, but stopped because Gill was glaring at him from the window.

"We _so _told you he was going to let you," Maya said cheerfully as she skipped along beside him.

"We know people, Chase. We're totally people people."

"People persons would sound better."

"But it's incorrect."

"But the saying is people person, and if you say people people it just sounds stupid-,"

"You sound stupid!"

"_You _sound stupid!"

"_Gu-u-u-ys_," Maya whined. "Can we please stop arguing? We're about to pay our respects to a dear, dear friend of mine."

"You said you didn't even like her!" Chase protested.

"_At first_. I didn't like her at first. But I grew to love Bessie-,"

"Her name is Annabeth!" Kathy and Chase shouted together.

Maya rolled her eyes. "Boy are you two in a bad mood today. Alright, Chase, set the flowers down and hurry up, we've got things to do."

_I knew she was lying when she said we were going to pay our respects_, Chase thought to himself bitterly, glaring at Maya out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

"Okay, Chase, you've decorated and cleaned Annabeth's grave, you've personally purchased her latest harvest, and now you're going to make a breakfast for her that Maya and I will take tomorrow."

"Then, we'll tell Angela about what you did-,"

"But we're going to pretend we didn't help you with it, and let you take all the credit. Owen said he talked to Luke and Luke already told Angela that you apologized to him, and she was pretty impressed," Kathy patted him on the head. "Good job, orangetop. Now, Maya and I are gonna head out. Have fun cooking!"

"Wait!" Chase called before they reached his front door. "You never told me the final rule!"

Maya and Kathy exchanged a look and began to laugh.

"You spent all this time complaining about the rules, and now you want to learn a new one?" Maya asked, giggling.

"Okay Chase. We'll tell you the fifth and final rule. The rule is: there are no real rules for being a good person."

Chase dropped the pan he was holding; it crashed to the floor, the clanging ringing in his ears moments after.

"_What_?" he finally snapped. "You two have spent all this time teaching me those stupid rules and they don't add up to _anything_?"

"Learning how to be a good person is something you have to do for yourself," Maya told him, surprising him. He hadn't expected _her _to be the insightful one. "You're not good at looking within yourself, though, so we gave you rules to help put you on the right path. You realized, through the rules, that you _want _to be a good person for Angela, and so the rules are done with now."

"Exactly. Don't you get it, Chase?" Kathy asked him, giving him a small smile. "If we didn't tell you that you were a jerk and offer to train you on how to not be one, you would have just kept on being a jerk. I told you a million and one times that you could be a little nicer, but you didn't care. When we gave you rules and goals, you started trying to be a good person."

"Now that you're trying, you don't need rules. You're in control of your own actions. Do the right thing- you already know how to do that. You apologized to Luke even though you didn't want to because it was the right thing."

"So now, all you have to do is keep on doing the right thing and being a good person will come easy," Kathy finished, punching him in the shoulder. "Understand?"

Chase hesitated, rubbing his shoulder, and then he rolled his eyes. Kathy and Maya exchanged a worried look, but looked back at him in shock as he began to laugh.

"I'm such an idiot!" he choked out between chuckles. "I spent all this time learning on how to not be a jerk when it's so _easy_. I just have to _not _be a jerk!"

"Exactly!" Maya exclaimed, clapping.

"Chase, you're not an idiot at all! You're actually kind of smart!" Kathy told him, as if amazed. That managed to squelch his laughter.

"So…now what?" he asked. The realization that he had the power to not be a jerk all along had cheered him at first, but now it weighed heavily on him. What was to prevent him from forgetting, or from just choosing to sink back into old, easy habits?

"Now you make breakfast for Angela, silly!" Maya giggled, patting his head.

Kathy rolled her eyes. "Now, you do your own thing. Maya and I can't go on dates with you and tell you what to do at your wedding, can we? You're on your own. You'll do just fine. We'll be back tomorrow for breakfast; all you have to worry about is apologizing to Angela and _not screwing up_."

"Easier said than done," the boy mumbled.

"We'll see," Kathy and Maya said together, grinning.

Author's Note: I am so so so sorry that this is up later than I said it would be. :( I didn't mean to post this so late, I've just been really busy and had a lot of things on my mind. Sorry! But hopefully you liked this chapter and I'll get the next one up soon! Thanks for the reviews, and thanks for reading! (:


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Summary: It's obvious to Kathy and Maya that Chase likes Angela, but since his social skills aren't going to get him a girlfriend anytime soon, they decide to step in and help.

_ "We'll head over here as soon as we finish over at Angela's house, alright?"_

"Yeah, we're going to take this over there, make sure she knows about your good deeds, and then hurry back and let you know how it goes."

_ "But-,"_

_ "Don't worry. Everything is going to work out just fine."_

Chase stared blankly into the pot of boiling stew on the stove. No matter how many comforting words Kathy and Maya had offered him, they hadn't helped much. Not to mention that Maya had given up on comforting him halfway through, and had ended with, "As long as you don't kill any more cows, you'll be home free."

"Everything okay in there?"

He turned to face Colleen and Jake, who were eyeing him as though unsure whether to console him or steer clear. A biting remark hit the tip of his tongue, but he held it back. Snapping at the people who employed him wouldn't be helping the whole 'not being a jerk' thing he was working on.

"Yeah. Sorry," he mumbled, turning the stove off. "I'm just sort of distracted."

Colleen chuckled and then asked softly, "It's about the farmer, right? Angela?"

Chase turned to her in surprise.

"Voices carry, Chase," Jake told him, laughing as well. "Not to mention Maya and Kathy have been letting us know what's going on."

_Those little traitors. And right after I called them my best friends!_

"They told us all about how you two have been getting along lately and they want you two to get together," Colleen told him cheerfully.

_Oh. That's all they told them? Well, I guess they can still be my best friends then, _Chase decided, feeling guilty. Being a good guy wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"We've heard some strange things from upstairs," Jake told him thoughtfully, folding his arms. "But we figure things will be fine. You and Angela get along good, don't you? We've seen you two before, chatting just fine. You just have to let her know how you feel before someone else does!"

Colleen nodded. "Yes, I've seen her with Gill a lot lately…"

Chase struggled to not tell them that they weren't helping at all. His animosity towards Gill had already skyrocketed in the past week, and he didn't want to risk getting even angrier.

"But I wouldn't worry. Things are going to be great!" Jake continued, patting his shoulder. "Just don't screw up."

"…Yeah. Thanks."

Now he knew where Maya got her annoying attitude from.

"Chase! Chase!" Kathy and Maya's voices sounded excitedly. He looked over to see them have a brief fight over who would enter the door first; Maya attempted to crouch down and go between Kathy's legs before the blonde shoved her back and leapt over the counter.

Jake and Colleen exchanged a look that expressed the same feelings Chase had before retreating to their upstairs sanctuary, where their daughter wasn't struggling to hop onto the counter and their chef wasn't burning all the food.

"Don't tell him yet!" Maya whined until finally Chase and Kathy helped her crawl over the counter, though the chef didn't get the point. In honor of their rules, however, he didn't tell her that she was being an idiot by not just going around. Well, he didn't tell her out loud, anyways.

"Angela already figured that you were the one who cleaned up Annabeth's grave!" Kathy exclaimed, seizing his arm and nearly jumping up and down with excitement. "She was totally impressed. She said she didn't expect you to _ever_ do anything nice!"

"…Wow, that's really great. Tell me more," Chase said in a dull voice.

Maya continued just as cheerfully, as ignorant of his sarcasm as ever. "And then she asked if it was true that you bought her last shipment of vegetables, and she said that she had missed the date to ship them, so it was really lucky that you bought them because otherwise she would have been out 1000 G!"

"Those vegetables were 1000 G!"

"Well, yeah. Didn't we say that when you gave us your wallet?"

"No, you said they weren't that much-,"

"Oh!" Maya exclaimed, giggling. "I thought you meant how many vegetables were there. Not that much. Only a few, considering they were so expensive."

"Anyways, Angela knew you bought them because Jake and Colleen told her!" Kathy continued on before the swear words Chase had been thinking of left his mind.

He glanced over his shoulder at the staircase, wondering if Jake and Colleen were listening in, and smiled. Maybe they weren't too bad of bosses after all.

"And when we brought her the breakfast over, she was really excited. She was so hungry…she ate like a pig!" Maya told him with her peppiest voice.

Kathy rolled her eyes. "It's not her fault, she hardly ever gets to eat. Did you see that tiny shack she calls a house? There's not even a kitchen in there! Chase, if you saw her house, you would just _die_. She has no refrigerator, no oven, no blender-,"

"I get it," Chase grimaced. The thought of anyone living without basic cooking utensils disturbed him, but he made an exception for Angela. After all, she had a lot of other things on her mind besides cooking.

"So basically she said that she would have forgiven you if you had just simply said, 'I'm sorry,'" Maya finished, shrugging. "So that stuff was unnecessary, but it sure did impress her!"

"What? I didn't even have to do all of that crap?" he demanded, but then caught himself and added on, "But…I guess…I'm glad I did…if she's happy."

"Good boy!" Kathy told him, patting him a little too hard on the head. He guessed that he deserved that for his slip up. "Now you better go find Angela and tell her that you love her."

"I don't love-,"

Maya groaned and rolled her eyes. "This again? You're still using the baby L word?"

"Would you two stop calling it that already, you two are such damn idiots sometimes-,"

"But I thought we were your best friends," Kathy said, smirking.

"I told you I was never going to admit to saying that again-,"

"To anyone _but _us," the blonde exclaimed mischievously. "Best friends tease each other. It's the way of the world. Maybe we should teach you the rules of friendship."

The thought of _more _pointless lessons with the pair seemed like torture to Chase, who hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, I think I can get those on my own…"

"Good," she continued to smirk, setting her arm around Maya. "We'll stay here and take care of the cooking; you go and get Angela, kid."

Chase took his apron off but then hesitated, glancing at Maya and Kathy with doubt.

"What is it?" Maya asked, looking as though she truly didn't see the problem.

Obviously he would have to break it down for them.

"No offense, but you two are crappy cooks. Maya, your food isn't edible, and Kathy, you don't know how to make anything but alcoholic drinks. You two can't be in charge of the food."

"Why bother saying no offense when it's totally offensive?" Maya asked, pouting.

"Way to be a killjoy, Chase. We'll just tell everyone the cook is out and serve them that stew you tried to fry," Kathy shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"But-,"

"_I'll _serve it, okay?" Kathy sighed. "No offense, Maya."

"_Why do you say no offense if you don't mean it_?" the girl whined as Chase hurried out of the kitchen. He didn't bother hanging around in the Inn to listen to the rest of Maya's whining, and instead turned and headed to Angela's ranch, hoping that Kathy and Maya had been right about something for once.

Author's Note: Sorry this is a few days late and doesn't even have Angela in it haha. Don't worry, the next chapter will! It might be the last, but it might not. I haven't decided yet. :P Anyways, thanks for the reviews! Hope you liked this chapter, thanks for reading! (:


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